AFRICAN GENETIC DIVERSITY: Implications for Human Demographic History, Modern Human Origins, and Complex Disease Mapping
African populations are characterized by greater levels of genetic diversity, extensive population substructure, and less linkage disequilibrium (LD) among loci compared to non-African populations. Africans also possess a number of genetic adaptations that have evolved in response to diverse climates and diets, as well as exposure to infectious disease. This review summarizes patterns and the evolutionary origins of genetic diversity present in African populations, as well as their implications for the mapping of complex traits, including disease susceptibility.Why should we care?
Host genetic variation plays a key role in influencing susceptibility to many infectious diseases in humans. Through recurrent exposure to different pathogens, a number of genetic adaptations have evolved that provide resistance to infection. Although the number of known candidate genes related to infectious disease has expanded, progress in the identification of genes that influence infectious disease susceptibility and/or resistance in diverse African populations has been slow. Understanding the genetic basis of infectious disease in Africans may provide useful insight into devising effective strategies to combat these diseases that have a large impact on African populations.I've read journalists who claim that variation in disease susceptibility between races is entirely socio-cultural, and has nothing to do with biology. This paper is a gateway to understanding the falsity of that claim. With seemingly good intentions, they want to fight the idea that race is anything but superficial at every line, even if the line is well behind scientific understanding. The alternative to fighting racism through ideology over science attitudes, is accepting the science while maintaining the principle that populations do not have to be identical to be treated equally.
